Tag Archives: Salty

All You Need Is Love, Kavalan, Let's celebrate!, Summertime

Kavalan King Car Whisky – bottled at 46% ABV

Taiwan — 46% – 200ml sample (thanks to Ian Chang of Kavalan for the sample and patience with the post)

Last November I had the good opportunity to taste Kavalan King Car Whisky bottled at 40%ABV.  Kavalan is single malt whisky from Taiwan.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  What’s more, they’re producing some top notch whisky.

As excited as I was to taste this whisky for the first time, I have a strange prejudice against whiskies that are bottled at the minimum 40% ABV so I was a bit apprehensive.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  What’s more is this whisky is also now bottled at 46% and non-chill filtered.

Before we get to the tasting, I thought I should direct you to images of Kavalan’s beautiful faciliety.  Just surf the web (or, just look below) and you’ll find some truly stunning pictures of their distillery:

 

 

 

 

Picture above in the image on the right hand side is Ian Chang admiring the casks in his warehouse.  If I could, I’d bottle one of those casks myself.  I really am a fan of the Kavalan line.  Ok, enough daydreaming.  On to the tasting…

On the nose — Mouthwateringly fruity – think mangos and tangerine, bananas and honey dew melon.

Honey and sugared lemons.

Freshly ground coffee (just like with the 40%ABV version).

Lots of malt, a bit floral and a touch salty.

Here’s one that brings back memories from weekends at my grandparent’s house…Musty Afghans that have been stored in laminated oak cabinets (I’m referring to the blanket-type Afghans, not the people.  This is not a slur against the Afghani people or the Afghan Whigs).

On the mouth — Nice mouthful yet nowhere near as fruity and tropical as the nose lead me to believe.

Highly vegetal and more of the salt I detected earlier.

Leafy greens, cucumber sauce.

Unsweetened lemon chews (if that makes sense).

Finish — Short but with a bit of a lemony zing to it.

In sum —  The wonderfully fruity nose was very promising and got me in the mood for warmer times.  The salty, more vegetal flavor of this whisky took me a bit off guard which could be a good thing.  Yes, I think it was a good thing.  The finish was just a bit to short for me.  I wanted it to stay with me longer.  Maybe that was purposeful.  It just made me want to sniff and taste more!

Gal of Whisky Israel also reviewed this one recently and seemed to like it quite a bit.

Karen & Matt of Whisky For Everyone agrees, this is a fine whisky.

Glenugie, Summertime, Takin' It Easy

Old Malt Cask – Glenugie 1982 – 26 years old

Highland Region – Sadly, I do not know the specific cask number on this one.  However, I can tell you that this is a from a refill ex-bourbon cask – 50%ABV – £175 for cask # 4703 from The Whisky Exchange.  Update — as of 2 hours after posting this review, this bottling (cask #4703 for £175) is now sold out from The Whisky Exchange!  Joyal’s in Rhode Island has some (cask not specified) for $154 – scroll toward the bottom of the page for the listing.

GlenWHOgie?  Glenugie, that’s WHO!

Glenugie is one of those lesser known distilleries.  It was closed in 1983 (like so many other distilleries) so finding Glenugie whisky is… hard.  Here’s a quick histories lesson on Glenugie from my friends at Master of Malt:

“The site of the Glenugie distillery is just south of Peterhead, not far from the River Ugie’s convergence with the sea at Scotland’s East Coast. The distillery was built in 1831 by Donald McLeod and Co on the site of a disused windmill. In 1837, a brewery was established at the site and in 1875 the distillery passed through the hands of Highland Distillers Co Ltd who renovated it and subsequently shut down the brewery. Glenugie opened and closed several times, remaining shut for the majority of the First World War. Glenugie was acquired and reopened by Seagar Evans and Co Ltd in 1937, prior to this time it had had a long stint of silence. In 1956, Schenley Industries acquired Seagar Evans and Co and the distillery went through renovations, including the installation of a further two stills and coal power was replaced by an oil burner. In 1971, Seagar Evans was renamed Long John International and four years later the company was sold to Whitbread and Co. The Scotch whisky industry was going through a relative downturn and Glenugie was, sadly, one of many injured parties, closing, as it did, in 1983. Today the site is used by Score Group Plc and engineering company. Official bottlings are, naturally, lacking, but there have been some independent releases of Glenugie single malt whisky.”

There.  Now you are smarter than you were a minute ago.  You can thank me later (you should thank Master of Malt too).

Onto the tasting…

On the nose –  Sweet ribbon candies, flinty and a touch of salt.

Garlic and spiced kumquat.

Say what?  Yup, that’s a crazy mix-em-up but, it works nicely!

Grassy notes with a side of peaches in soaked pinot grigio.

After smelling those wine/peach notes, it’s all I can concentrate on.

On the mouth – White wine all the way.

Think slightly effervescent riesling.

Fresh lemongrass and white grape juice.

A slight breadiness to it.

Mostly though, like a high octane fruity sweet white wine.

Finish – Like a mouth full of Pop Rocks – my mouth is fizzing and popping.  I better not drink any Coke here (another reason not to mix whisky with soda!!!)

In sum – Refreshing.  Pleasing.  Summery.  It’s that simple (if you’ve got a spare £175 lying around).

Special thanks goes out to Aron Silverman for the sample!

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, An everyday dram, Autumn, Springbank

Springbank 15yo – A whisky shelf must.

Campbeltown Region – 46%ABV –$75 – 90 | £44 | €50

I submitted the following to the Edinburgh Whisky Blog in the hopes to win a small sample of The Glenlivet 70yo.  My entry was among 13 favorites chosen by Lucas (one of the two fine chaps who run the blog, in case you’re not familiar…).  I had some tough competition and in the end did not win but hey, it was fun to write and I was happy to be chosen as one of Lucas’ favorites.

Here’s a link to all of the entries.

I’m reminded of a story my father once told about his trying to listen to, and appreciate, Bob Dylan. All of his friends were talking about this protest singer with a gravel-like voice that was telling it like it is. We’re talking circa 1964/65. He picked up two albums suggested to him by friends: “Bob Dylan” and “Freewheelin’”. He listened to these albums but could not get into it — he couldn’t understand what his friends liked about him. But he knew, from all of the praise about Bobby D, there had to be something. So, he listened to them over and over and over again and then realized that he kept playing them because he could not stop listening. He fell in love.

The story near mirrors my experience, from many years ago, with Springbank 15yo. It tasted like no whisky I’d had before and no whisky I wanted to have ever again. Yet EVERYBODY LOVED this whisky. There had to be something to it. I had to come back to it over and over again. It took me about 650 ml of my 750 ml bottle to fall in love. Now, it’s a staple bottle on my shelf (along side many other springers)! The moral is that it may not be the whisky that’s “bad” but our nose or palate that’s not ready for what it has to offer.

On the nose – Flinty soil, coastal hay/grass and a good touch of tinned pineapple and fresh orange juice.

Smoked & oily whitefish – salty stuff!

Peat smoke and burning brush (so well integrated).

Apple juice and mulling spices… a bit waxy in scent as well.

A fun mix that can take a bit to get used to but all-in-all thoroughly enjoyable.

On the mouth – This smacks of doused campfires and morning orange juice.

Candy/chalky wafers (yes, the Necco type).

Very sweet with notes of dried fruits (dates, mostly).

Even mouthfeel with both a juicy and tannic quality.

Browned lemons, grilled lemons and a bit of the fishiness I got on the nose.

Turnips and freshly paved roads.

Finish – A slightly winey finish, tannic, long and notes of burnt wood.

In sum – First & foremost, I threw a lot of scents and tasting notes out there for this one but I must try to express that on the whole; as a summation of all that’s going on here, this is uniquely “Springbank”.  Springbank is thoroughly unique and pretty damn unmistakable.  This is a good thing!  I’d enjoy this one as often as you could and keep it on your shelf – I do!

A World of Discovery, Cold Winter, Laphroaig, Rosebank, Summertime

A couple of SMWS single cask bottlings (and they could not be more opposite from one another)

Back in March I had the good opportunity to attend the Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza in NYC.  You might remember that post.  If not, here it is.  It was a fantastic event and I plan on attending two of the Fall Events: one in Boston, one in Chicago.  Details on the Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza Fall schedule to follow in the coming months.

The good folks at the SMWSA were kind enough to give me some samples of the whiskies they were pouring at the NYC event for review.  So, before I get to the actual reviews, I’ve got to say thank you to Aron S for the samples!

Today I’m reviewing sherried Laphroaig peat monster and a light little ditty from Rosebank.  Why am I reviewing two completely different whiskies in the same post?  Well, it is MY blog after all.  “I do what I want!”

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, on to the review…

SMWS 29.88 – Laphroaig – Ex-Sherry 9yo 60.9% ABV

On the nose — It’s very easy to get caught up in the soot and ashes that are all over this nose…

However, getting past that, I found some great bread pudding notes.

After that it’s gets very sea-like…

with loads of fresh caught fish.

Nori wrapped brisket and olive brine.

Rusty pipe water.

On the mouth — Rusted iron frying pans soaking in a low-tide pool of sea water which is filled with flint stones and dying crabs, cracked shells and all.

I like this… sort of.

Honied ham sandwich slices and old brown lemons.

It all sound a bit too odd but, in context, it quite nice.

Chicoried coffee (like Luizzianne).

Salted caramels and chocolate covered toffee.

Finish — Full of coffee, chocolate and overcooked prunes.

A tad nutty as well.

All in all, it’s got a decent length.

In sum — Very much a whisky for specific moods.  I liken this one to a drink one should drink when they’re ‘pissed the *BLEEP* off’.  (to use the parlance of our times…).  A really, really odd duck but one that I imagine you’d like if you’re a fan of the Ardbeg Uggy.  Very complex and crazy stuff.

SMWS 25.55 – Rosebank – Ex-Bourbon 19yo 60.8% ABV

On the nose — A lightly fruited nose (think pear & pineapple) with hints of herbal teas.

White pepper and even some notes of sweet hay.

Milk chocolate and a touch of light caramel (nice notes I often find in Rosebanks).

Back to the fruits now (the same as before).

What amazes me is how easily, at 60.8%ABV, this one can be nosed.

You’d think this is a low ABV whisky.

Rose pedals and sugared & honeyed chamomile.

On the mouth –– Bright, effervescent and loaded with lemon fizz candies, over-sugared apple sauce.

Lemon, lemon, lemon, lemon, lemons.

Did I mention lemons?

How about… Lemons?

Oh, wait….Lemons?

More white pepper and now some white bread toast.

Finish — Juicyfruit gum (like, dead on!), more white pepper and sugarcane.

Lasting peppery finish.

In sum — A very one sided whisky but one that is so easily consumed.  Perfect as an aperitif, a mid day pick-me-up or a late summer relaxer.

A World of Discovery, All You Need Is Love, An everyday dram, Arran, Autumn

The Arran “Westie” – Icons of Arran III

Islands Region – 46%ABV – £41 – Limited to 6,000 bottles – not available in US stores.

I’m more of a cat man, really.  There’s something about dogs that I just can’t get behind.

Is it the drooling?  The constant need for attention?  The messy clean-ups of poop and pee-pee?  Wait a sec, sounds more like I’m describing one of my girls when they were infants (and I sort of like them…).

I do like dogs, please don’t get me wrong.  Perhaps it’s more a love for cats and NOT for dogs.  A good cat will hop upon your lap and purr away whilst you do whatever; watch TV, sip on a malt, work on your computer.  S/he’ll also not give a crap if you and the family need to go on vacation for a few days.  Just put out some fresh water and food and make sure there’s some clean kitty litter and poof, you’re on your way.

I can not argue, however, with Mr. James MacTaggart for choosing his dog Ruaraidh (pronounced Roo-Ree) as one of the icons of Arran; especially if I’ll be meeting them both this August!

The man loves his dog.  I can respect that.  I love Arran whiskies.  It’s a win-win.

If it were me however, the name of my Icon would be dedicated to my now passed cat: Asswípé (pronounced ass-we-pay, folks!).  To the left is a mock up of what the packaging would look like.

If you don’t know how to pronounce his name, calling the whisky “The Asswípé” might be taken as just plain rude.  I think I’d call it “Meow Malt”

So, what is the Arran “Westie”?  It’s a marriage of 22 ex-oloroso sherry refill casks bottled at 46%ABV and like ALL Arran whiskies, non-chill filtered and with no caramel coloring.

On the nose – Immediately fruity with sour cherries and sugared mango.

Crushed walnuts, shell and all.

Back to the fruits: pineapple, tangerine and watermelon pith.

Very sweet nose.

This is a fun one to jam your schnoz in to.

Spongey and orangey angel food cake as well as some sort of waxy saltiness to it.

On the mouth – Great mouthwatering entry that’s both warming and puckeringly sweet.

The perfect mixture that is sharp cheddar and dried apricots.

Incredibly malty and full of vanilla and caramels.

I keep picturing in my head a bowl full of vanilla bean ice cream with melted caramel – perhaps even some banana.

Maybe it’s in my head but I totally want banana splits right now.

Finish – Malty, waxy medium length.

In sum – A great example of how good Arran can be, even when they veer a bit from their house style (or what I envision their house style to be).  A solid any day/any time whisky but might work nice as a woodsy morning malt – wake up, get out of the camping tent, smell the fresh mountain air and pour a dram with your camping pals.  Start your morning right.

A big thank you goes out to Andy H for the sample!